Naturalness

2021-01-15

Parent-Child Aikido

The 6-year-old Hikari demonstrates some techniques with his dad and a second uke. It is remarkable how naturally he performs the techniques.

1. Shōmenuchi Iriminage
2. Sumiotoshi
3. & 4. Kokyūnage
5. Shihōnage
6. Atemi
7. Kokyūnage Ushiro
8. & 9. Kokyūnage Suwariwaza
10. Tenchinage
11. Kaitennage
12. Shōmenuchi Sankyō

Open a bottle

(example for right-handers)
1. To open the screw cap of a bottle, it is usually sufficient to hold the bottle with your right hand and to grasp the lid from above with your thumb, forefinger and middle finger of your left hand and turn it counterclockwise. However, this only works if the screw cap is not too tightly fixed.
2. If the closure is very tight, it is better to shape the fingers of the left hand so that you can pinch the cover between your thumb and forefinger. When the fingers are then well on the lid, you can fully grasp the bottle with your right hand and turn it clockwise.
3. If the neck of the bottle is long enough, you can use the thumb and forefinger of your left hand to form a ring.
4. This is placed well against the lid and the form is retained. The right hand then turns the bottle clockwise.

Opening bottles is easy to practice at home. It is an absolutely practical activity. So there is no danger to run the risk of turning it into a philosophy. From a physical point of view, static friction and torque can easily explain why the methods in Figures 2 and 4 work much better. But that should not be the topic here.
An important aspect is that you do it in a relaxed and natural way. As soon as you concentrate too much on specific areas (e.g. on your fingers) and also strain, opening the bottle becomes more difficult again. Relaxed, the body can organize itself optimally and everything becomes easier. Some also say, you have to extend Ki.
We are faced with similar tasks when we hold our partner in Aikido or when we use Bokken or Jo. However in these cases, we can easily loose the unity of mind and body if we think too much about attack and defense or about the effectiveness of the technique.
Therefore, it is better to do the movements in a natural way. They are then even more effective and can more easily be controlled mentally.

Hit with Shoto

It is also important not to tense up when grasping a bokken or, as in this example, a shoto.
In the upper part of the picture the hand is slightly open. You can feel the grip mainly on the little finger and the ball of the thumb.
The exercise consists in closing your hand. This triggers the flapping movement of the Bokken. In the end, the whole hand lies tightly against the handle.
Then let the bokken return to the starting position with the open hand and repeat the blow. This is how you learn to move it in a natural way.


Cherry blossoms Hanami 2008

The Angermeiers live in the countryside in Bavaria. Trudi learns from the doctor that her husband Rudi does not have much longer to live. She decides to keep the illness a secret and persuades Rudi to visit their adult children in Berlin. The children are so busy with their own lives that they do not want to take care of their parents.
These then move to the Baltic Sea. Trudi dies unexpectedly there. Rudi is completely thrown off course and doesn't know how to proceed. When he then learns that it was Trudi's dream to go to Japan one day - her youngest son lives and works there - he travels there himself to make up for part of her lost life.
"In a touching and melancholy way, the film revolves around relationships between parents, parents and children, around love and the meaning of life."